


Lordly Right

by VampirePaladin



Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Assassination, Droit du Seigneur, Gen, Poison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26194147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampirePaladin/pseuds/VampirePaladin
Summary: Lord Corneo takes his lordly rights with any young woman soon to be married. Tifa offers herself in place of a bride.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2
Collections: Short August Medieval Exchange 2020





	Lordly Right

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ThatScottishShipper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatScottishShipper/gifts).



It was a slow day at Seventh Heaven, a tavern owned and operated by Tifa Lockhart. She had all sorts of people that came to eat and drink at her tavern, though most of them were common laborers. Tifa was known for her beauty and her kind heart. She was always willing to listen to patrons that were in need. Almost as famous was her ability to deal with rowdy patrons. She was an expert brawler. What others needed weapons to do she could do with her fists.

A young man came in. He was a regular, an apprentice to a blacksmith. He also normally didn’t come in this early. 

“What’ll it be, Harold?” Tifa asked.

“Ale,” he muttered.

Tifa filled a tankard and brought it over, setting it down on the worn wooden counter in front of him. He took it, brought it to his lips and began to gulp it down, unlike his normal sips. Harold was a man that could make a single tankard last for hours. Now it was already drained.

“Is everything alright?” Tifa asked.

“It’s my sister. She’s supposed to get married end of the week.”

Tifa nodded, “You mentioned it before.”

“Lord Corneo intends to take his Lordly Right with Anne.” 

Tifa knew about Lordly Right. A noble had the right to bed any virgin on the night before their wedding. While it was legal, few of the lords actually took this right. Not even King Shinra used that power. She couldn’t just let this happen to Anne.

“I’ll go in her place,” Tifa said.

“But you and Anne look nothing alike.”

Tifa shook her head. “Lord Corneo doesn’t know that. Don’t worry everything will be alright.”

She said that, and seeing Harold perk up to run home and tell his sister made her happy, but Tifa didn’t actually know what she was going to do. She’d go in Anne’s place, but she didn’t want to have sex with Lord Corneo. She spent the rest of the day thinking about what she would do.

The following day Tifa still was thinking about it and was no closer to a solution.

It after yet another day that Tifa decided to go see the Flower Witch.

The Flower Witch was rumored to have been the child of the fae who had been left among them and raised by a human. No one could understand the mysteries of nature better than her. She knew the plants that would heal, that would hurt, she could tell if a harvest was sickened long before they showed even the smallest hint of blight. The people of Midgar depended on her.

Tifa found her tending her flowers around her cabin on the outskirts of town.

“Hello, are you the Flower Witch?” Tifa asked the woman wearing a comfortable looking pink dress.

“I don’t really like that name,” the woman said as she looked up at Tifa. The friendly smile said that she didn’t take any offense at it.

“Then what do you prefer to be called?”

“Well I always liked Aerith, being my name.” She stood up and whipped her hands off on her apron. 

“I’m Tifa.”

“What can I do for you?”

“I need to figure out what to do about Lord Corneo. I volunteered to take the place of a woman that he plans to take his Lordly Right with, but that won’t solve anything. He’ll keep doing this over and over and I can’t take the place of everyone.”

“Hmm,” Aerith said as she crossed her arms and hung her head to the side. “I think I have something that can deal with that, but only if you are sure you can go through with it.”

Tifa felt the pit of her stomach lurch. “What is it?” Deep down she had an idea what it could be.

“I have a poison you can put in his wine, as well as an anti-poison that if you drink it first will prevent you from suffering any ill effects.”

Tifa frowned. Even though she knew what to expect she still didn’t like actually hearing it. The thought of killing a man, of murdering one, it didn’t sit well in her stomach. But what other choice was there? No noble would step in and stop Lord Corneo. She could pray, but she was sure that many had already done so. 

“How much would it cost?” Tifa hated herself for asking but she would also hate herself if she hadn’t asked.

“How about three gold pieces,” Aerith said.

“That’s all?”

“Well, you are going to be helping a lot of people. So, I’m just charging the absolute minimum.”

Tifa nodded and pulled out three shining pieces of gold that. She placed them in Aerith’s hand, sealing the deal.

“Come back on your way to Lord Corneo’s and I’ll have it ready for you.”

The days passed. Tifa prepared a dark blue dress for her visit to Lord Corneo. She made sure it had a discrete pouch hidden within the folds of the skirt. That was where she placed the poison. She took the anti-poison minutes before approaching the front gate.

An apathetic looking young man with white hair led her inside to the waiting Lord Corneo.

Lord Corneo wore clothing made of velvet and embroided with gold. His room was full of statues and paintings dedicated to his own glory.

“My Lord, I am honored to spend the night with you,” Tifa said, forcing herself to smile. It was hard. Every time he looked at her, waved his fingers around her body, it made her flinch and squirm.

“Oooh, aren’t you a fetching lass.”

Tifa saw a bar with drinks. She walked towards it and poured wine for both of them, putting the poison in both. Returning to Lord Corneo and said. “Which glass would you like?”

“You decide.”

She gave him the drink in her left hand and brought the remaining glass to her lips. Tifa took a sip and swallowed.

“On second thought, I want your glass.” Lord Corneo snatched Tifa’s glass from her hands and downed it.

Tifa drank the remaining glass.

Corneo started to hover around her. His wiggling fingers hovering over her like a bird of prey. “Now, I think it’s time for you to pay your-“ Corneo’s face turned white as he realized something was wrong. “Leslie!” he screamed as he fell to the ground, convulsing.

The same white haired young man rushed in.

He looked from Tifa to Corneo, writhing on the floor. Then he smiled.

“Get out of here. I’ll take care of the body.”

“Thank you,” Tifa said as she rushed out of the door.

The news of Lord Corneo’s death spread. Absolutely no one mourned his death. The people of Midgar had one less thing to worry about in their lives.


End file.
